The best Kickstarter projects are the ones that have videos of the product doing what it claims to do, and are already well-funded when you discover them. Like this amazing Zen Table which creates intricate sand drawings using a metal ball specially designed sculpting head.

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At $500 for the small version (which comes as a DIY kit) the Zen Table makes for one expensive desktop toy, but seeing it in action makes me more tempted to shell out the $750 for the fully assembled larger model. Using a hidden mechanism that moves through the sand, the Zen Table carves out complicated images from your digital files, either from a USB connection, an SD card, or an optional wireless connection.

What impresses me most is how the table cleverly uses the striped background pattern it creates to move the sculpting head between different areas, without leaving criss-crossing trails like you'd get from an Etch A Sketch. Its creator has obviously put a lot of work into the software to ensure it produces very clean results as it draws, and I'll be honest, it's far more mesmerizing to watch than a swinging pendulum. [Zen Table via The Awesomer]